The Last Vampire Diaries REVAMPED
by AlisaPhenom
Summary: Revamped, because the previous version sucked. Based on The Last Vampire by Chris Pike. When Bonnie's spell goes wrong and Elena is sent back in time to 3000 B.C, everyone is distraught. But it's nothing compared to when she comes back after 5000 years of running... with fangs.
1. The Beginning

**The Last Vampire Diaries- Revamped. **

**A/N: Yes, I'm revamping The Last Vampire Diaries. After reading through not only this story, but lots of others, I've decided that my writing skill one year ago was kind of appalling. I changed tenses without warning and then switched back after one sentence, I accidentally changed from first person to second and I never bothered to correct typos. (Which, from this point onwards, I swear I'll do). And, I mean, seriously- at least forty five of those chapters were fillers.  
Oh, and in this version, there may be some name changes- the most important of which is Sam being renamed as Ray, like he was in the Last Vampire books.  
So! Here's the shiny new copy, buffed and polished and fresh and so on. :D Enjoy! (Again). **

**Elena's POV. **

I prowled the uneven side-walk, my dark eyes fixed solely on my prey- a group of three men, drunk and noisy, wolf-whistling at me as if that would somehow make me feel attracted to them. I placed a slightly alarmed look on my face as I crossed over to the other side of the street, making it look like I was trying to avoid them. Like I was an innocent girl, trying to stay out of trouble and make it back to mommy and daddy before curfew was up.

Of course, I was not that type of girl. Not any more.

As I moved, the men moved, now walking- no, _swaggering_- towards me. I resisted the urge to snort in amusement. They were practically toddlers in this world, and yet they roamed around with such confidence, like they were proud of their intentions towards women. Yes, I knew just what these men wanted to do to me.

And I was going to have to disappoint.

'Where you going, gorgeous?' one of them called.

Subtly, I rolled my eyes. It was clear that none of them would know how to pick up a girl if she offered.

I didn't answer him; merely quickened my pace and clutched my hands to my chest.

'Hey,' another of the men said as they came closer, within arm's distance. 'He said, where you going?'

He was the leader, this one. His voice was forceful and his stance threatening. A sleazy smile tugged at his lips. I barely managed to not curl my lip in disgust.

'Home,' I replied. My voice sounded as though I was fighting to keep it steady. Internally, I praised myself for being such a good actress.

'And what's a pretty young thing like you doing out here alone at this time of night?' the third man, short and stocky, said mockingly. 'Didn't your parents ever tell you that Mystic Falls is a dangerous place at night?'

'What makes it dangerous?' I asked, my eyes flickering between them all.

I was already working out how it would be best to kill them.

The leader smirked. 'You tell us, gorgeous.'

He moved closer. I stepped backwards. The three of them sneered at me. I knew what they were thinking: _We've got her now. She can't escape. _

_Sorry to disappoint, boys, _I thought in my head.

'What's your name, princess?' the second man asked, licking his lips and looking lecherously at me.

'Elena,' I replied. The leader opened his mouth to say something, but I continued, 'What's yours?'

They were obviously not expecting this. The leader of the gang blinked, then frowned slightly. 'None of your business,' he spat, changing mood quite quickly. His back straightened and he stood straighter than before, drawing himself up taller. He certainly had a temper.

The short man glanced nervously at his leader, then looked back at me. 'We're headed to a party,' he said, covering up the other man's violent slip-up. They were not meant to show anything but amusement and callousness- they were not meant to show anger. 'How 'bout you come with us, babe? It's going to be wild.'

'And will you three be the only ones at this party?' I guessed, my helpless act fading. I was getting hungrier by the second. The sooner I killed these three, the better.

'Funny chick, this one,' the short one snickered, looking back to his friends. 'Got a fire. A spark. Haven't you, darling? We like that. We like that a lot.'

'I don't care.' I replied, fixing him with a cold stare.

The leader grinned, regaining his sleazy composure. 'You will. Are you gonna come party with us, or what?'

I paused, acted like I was considering it. Even if I was, there wasn't much to consider. 'No.'

'Come on,' the second man reached out, put his grubby fingers on my slim neck. I leaned away from his touch.

The leader stepped in. 'Screw this. Listen here, _Elena_- we can either do this the easy way, or we can do this with you screaming. I'll give you a hint; the easy way will be much more pleasant.'

I'd had enough of him and his gang. 'I'm not the one who's going to be screaming tonight,' I said darkly, letting the ghost of my age creep into my voice. I let my face change, let the dark veins pop out beneath my skin and my fangs extend and protrude past my lips.

I drank their blood slowly, one by one. I had been right. There had been screaming that night; but it certainly wasn't coming from me.

**Damon's POV. **

'Well, would you look at that,' I murmured as me and Stefan watched Elena walk across the side-walk, the both of us crouched behind a bush. 'She _is_ back.'

'How the hell...?' Stefan seemed slightly more alarmed about this than I was.

We watched her for a short while longer; watched her interact with a group of three men, watched her begin to taunt them, watched her drink from each of their necks. As we did this, I began to grow slightly more worried; _all right, so maybe I shouldn't be so pleased about Elena being back, _I thought to myself, frowning.

'So she's a vampire,' I said aloud to Stefan, raising an eyebrow, the frown gone. 'That's different.'

'We need to tell Bonnie,' Stefan whispered. I looked at him; he sounded broken, and looked even worse. I couldn't blame him, really. The girl he loved was now a blood-sucking monster. That was sure to put a damper on anyone's mood.

'Yeah,' I agreed, looking away and back to Elena as she sped away with a speed that only an immortal could muster. A powerful one at that. 'This is _her_ fault, after all.'

Stefan scowled at me. 'You can't blame Bonnie for this, Damon,' he said, a warning tone in his voice. I knew what he was telling me; _If you dare say anything to Bonnie about this being her fault, I'll kill you. _'She feels bad enough as it is.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Right,' I muttered, getting to my feet. My brother did the same, and I looked at him.

Suddenly, a memory flashed before my eyes; that had been happening a lot in the past week, since... since _it_ happened.

****Flashback** **

_I eyed the flickering candles that surrounded Elena. _A fire hazard, I_ thought sarcastically to myself. _

_'Are you sure this will work?' Elena asked Bonnie, looking anxious. I ached to comfort her, to tell her that there was no need to worry; she would be back before she even noticed she was gone. _

_'Probably,' the witch replied. Then a flicker of doubt crossed her face. 'Hopefully.' _

_I glared at her. 'You'd better be sure, witch.' _

_She glared right back at me, eyes defiant. 'I am sure. I'm positive that nothing will go wrong. It can't,' she added quietly. _

_Elena smiled half-heartedly. 'Just don't send me back in time or anything,' she joked. 'That would kind of suck.' _

_I frowned at her. 'Don't make jokes,' I told her teasingly. 'That's my job.' _

_She grinned back at me, and then looked at Stefan. Her eyes filled with emotion. 'Stefan...' _

_My brother looked away pointedly. He was unhappy that this spell was being performed. Maybe he didn't understand that it was being done purely for Elena's safety. _

_Bonnie smiled comfortingly at Elena. 'Okay, so here's what's going to happen: this spell will put you in India. That way, you'll be too far away for Klaus to get to you before we can get to him.' _

_'Why India?' Elena asked. _

_Bonnie shrugged. 'It was the first place that popped into my head.' _

_I snorted. 'Very professional, witch.' _

_'Damon,' Elena scolded, shooting me a look. Then she looked back at Bonnie. 'What then?' _

_'You'll be transported back here to Mystic Falls as soon as I call you back... which will be once we've defeated Klaus. I'm going to take a drop of blood from your finger, just a little drop. It's a blood spell, you see- I'll give some of my blood, too, and let the two drops merge. Then I say the spell, and voilà. You'll be in India.' _

_'Right,' Elena nodded. 'Simple.'_

_Bonnie looked at me and Stefan. 'Will you two be able to handle a little blood?' she asked, almost like she was challenging us to say no. _

_I met her gaze full on. 'Of course.' _

_Stefan hesitated, but then simply said, 'Yes.' _

_'Let's go, then.' _

_Bonnie took a pin from her pocket and passed it to Elena, who hesitantly pushed it into the fleshy part of her fingertip. Blood welled up there, and she gently squeezed it onto the centre of the mat before passing the pin back to Bonnie, who did the same. The candles surrounding Elena grew stronger and burned brighter than before, and Bonnie started chanting. _

_'This is slightly creepy,' I murmured to Stefan. _

_He didn't say anything; merely gave me a look that I translated as 'Shut up, Damon'. _

_So I did shut up, and I watched Bonnie finish the spell. Elena jolted suddenly, and then there was a flash of light, and she was gone. _

_I raised an eyebrow, not allowing myself to look impressed. 'So that's it? It worked?' _

_'No,' Bonnie murmured, looking distraught. 'No, no, no!' _

_She jumped to her feet, cursing and running her hands through her hair. She started chanting something else, a few quick words- nothing happened. _

_'Bonnie,' Stefan said, alarmed. _

_'What happened?' I demanded, no doubt finishing my brother's sentence. _

_'It went wrong... goddammit, it went wrong!' Bonnie was shouting now. She fell to her knees again, staring at the blood. 'It... it went wrong.' _

_She pulled the grimoire over and placed it in her lap, telling us to 'shush' every time we opened our mouths to question her. She frantically flipped through the pages, looking for... something. _

_'Bonnie, for god's sake, tell us what happened!' I hissed, growing angry. This was Elena we were talking about- if something had happened to her, there were a few people I would never forgive. Bonnie, for making the spell go wrong. Elena herself, for being so insistent that it was our best option. Myself, for agreeing to let the witch do it... _

_Bonnie was staring at the page now, staring at a chunk of words in the top left corner. 'No,' she breathed. _

_'Calm down,' Stefan instructed. 'Calm down, Bonnie, and tell us everything. Is Elena safe? Is she in India, like she's meant to be?' _

_Bonnie's head snapped up towards us. She had tears in her eyes- never a good sign. 'Oh,' she said bitterly. 'She's in India, all right. But it's not _where_ she is that you should be worried about... it's when.' _

_There was a moment of silence, of awful, heavy silence. And then I snapped, '_When?'

_Bonnie nodded, looking miserable. 'I guess her comment before distracted me, got me thinking about...' she swallowed thickly, looking like she was about to be sick. 'Time travel.' _

_'So,' I spat menacingly, moving closer to her, 'you mean to tell us that you've just sent Elena _back in time_, because you were _distracted_?' _

_'I'm sorry,' she closed her eyes. 'I'm so, so sorry.' And then she burst into tears. 'There's no counter-spell! I can't reverse it! I... I... I didn't mean to!' _

_'Where did you send her?' Stefan asked. I looked over at him; there was something in his voice, something in his face that told me he wasn't feeling as calm as he was acting. For he had not once snapped at Bonnie, not once even spoken since Bonnie had told them. 'I mean, when?' _

_'I, um... I don't know. But I can find out. I can find out everything we need to know,' Bonnie murmured, sniffing heavily. She closed her eyes again, muttering a few more words. Then those eyes flew open wide, and she said, 'She's in India... 3000 B.C.' _

_Another heavy silence followed. And then, 'You,' I said slowly, all my anger drained, 'are an idiot, Bonnie.' _

_'How do we get her back?' Stefan asked. _

_'Weren't you listening to me?' Bonnie snapped at him. 'There's no way to get her back! She's too far away! But...' her eyes darted over to the blood still on the mat. 'I can make sure that she has a normal life. A happy life, over in India.' _

_'Five thousand years ago,' I said bitterly. _

_She glared at me. 'Yes, I know that. I can perform a spell so that Elena doesn't remember her life back here, in Mystic Falls, in... the future. She'll be able to speak Indian, thank god. And she'll be able to live and grow old and never have to think back to us.' _

_'That-' I started, my anger returning, but Stefan interrupted me. _

_'Do it,' he said. _

_I whipped my head around to stare at him. 'What?' _

_'Do it,' he said, still looking at Bonnie. 'She deserves to be happy, even if it's not with us.' _

_'Are you out of your mind?' I demanded. 'No!' _

_I was being selfish. I knew I was being selfish, but I couldn't help it. To have Elena never remember anything of her past, anything of her friends and family, anything of _me_... it was too much. I couldn't let it happen. _

_'Don't be selfish, Damon,' Bonnie snapped. She had her eyes closed; looks like she wasn't after my input anyway. She started chanting once again, and the candles flickered a few times before burning even more brightly than before. _

_'It's done,' Bonnie said once she'd finished. 'It's done.' _

****End Flashback** **

**Bonnie's POV. **

'What the hell do you mean, Elena's a vampire?' I demanded hotly, glaring at both Stefan and Damon. 'Don't kid around with this.'

'We're not kidding around, unfortunately,' Stefan said, looking down. 'She's back, and she's... well, she's-'

'She's a bitch,' Damon finished with one of his thousand-watt miles. 'To put it simply.' How could he be so damn smug in a situation like this? So callous, and chipper, and-

Oh, right. I forgot. He's _Damon. _Of course he can be smug and callous and chipper in a situation like this. Silly me, for thinking he actually cared about Elena. I must have been mistaken.

It wasn't like we'd all seen him crying over Elena's disappearance one week ago, anyway.

Stefan glared at Damon. 'Yes, thank you,' he said sharply. He looked back to us- me, Jeremy, Alaric and Caroline. Stefan had called us and asked us to come over, said he had big news that we needed to know. 'Last night, me and Damon were looking for the vampires responsible for the latest round of _animal attacks_. We saw Elena- yes, Jeremy, we're sure it was her and not Katherine. She had her hair straight, she said her name was Elena and she seemed so much more powerful than Katherine has ever been. It was Elena, all right.'

'So my sister, who just last week was sent back in time, is now a five thousand year old vampire who kills humans,' Jeremy said slowly, eyes wide and bright with unshed tears. I felt a stab of sympathy for him- how come everyone he loves either dies or turns into a monster, and _then_ dies?

_Apart from me, _I thought happily. _I'm not dead, or a monster. _

'So what do we do about her?' Alaric asked. 'We can't exactly kill her.'

'And why the hell not?' Damon asked. 'She's not Elena any more.'

'We're not killing her!' Caroline said, appalled.

'I second that,' I said, shooting my angriest glare at Damon for what was probably the hundredth time that day.

'As do I,' Jeremy said, as if it weren't obvious that he wouldn't stand for his sister being killed, vampire or not.

'We're not killing Elena,' Alaric echoed.

Damon and Stefan looked at us all. Damon looked angry, whereas Stefan had the smallest of smiles on his face. He didn't want Elena dead, either.

'You're all crazy,' Damon said finally, turning and walking out of the boarding house living room.

'Better crazy than bitter,' Caroline muttered under her breath.

'Shut up, Blondie,' Damon called from upstairs.

I grinned.

**Elena's POV. **

I cursed to myself, slipping away from the boarding house. I should have known they'd find out I was here. I inwardly scolded myself for my carelessness.

But it wasn't like I could stay in Oregon, not after... not after what had happened there. Not with _him_ looking for me. Not after _he_ had killed Ray. I felt a pang in my heart even as I thought about it- it was unbelievable, how human Ray had made me feel. I sighed deeply.

Perhaps the _crazy-with-grief _killing spree in Mystic Falls wasn't going to be as fun as it had originally sounded.

I was still going to stay, though. This place was my home, and I hadn't been here in so long- and it was strange and fascinating to be able to see my old friends and family again, after a good five thousand years had passed since I last saw them.

As I walked away from the Salvatore boarding house, I only looked back once. _See you around, Damon, _I thought as I did.

**A/N: So there it is. Hope you liked it. Again. Feel free to review... again. ;)  
~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	2. The Capture

**Chapter 2. **

**Elena's POV. **

My next move, I decided, was to visit the Mystic Grill.

To the whole of Mystic Falls, I had only been gone for one week. To me, it had been five thousand years. The people at the Grill would think that I'd just been on vacation, perhaps; or maybe not. It all depended on what Jenna and Jeremy had told them.

The heels of my black ankle boots clacked against the cemented side-walk as I made my way over to the Grill. I had only fed an hour or so before, so I wasn't thirsty for blood- but I did like to drink. Alcohol and coffee were the only two human substances I could stand to drink. I even thought they were quite tasty.

So, as I entered the Grill, intending on flirting and playing and drinking away my troubles, I was wearing a smirk.

But as soon as I had walked through the front doors, I stopped in my tracks. There was a scent in the air... a familiar scent. A loud, deliberate laugh rang out from a booth to my left, and my head snapped in the direction of it, my eyes already widening. No. No, no, no. It couldn't be- it couldn't be _him_. There was no way he could have followed me from Oregon.

But it _was_ him that my eyes were focused on, it _was_ him who met my gaze and winked and raised his glass in my direction before turning back to his company and letting out another laugh.

My head spun. It was a rare thing, for me to get scared and confused like this- but that didn't mean it didn't ever happen. Mainly, it happened whenever I was in situations like this.

I backed away slowly, leaving the grill. And as soon as I was out of sight, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me back to Mrs Flowers' Bed and Breakfast, with one name in my mind, almost as if it were mocking me. Taunting me.

_Klaus. _

**Stefan's POV. **

Jeremy and Bonnie had gone home and Alaric had gone to the Grill. Now it was just me, Caroline, and Damon here in the Salvatore boarding house. We had not spoken of Elena since our discussion earlier, and I was glad of it. She was the last thing I wanted to talk about right now; I couldn't let myself be reminded of her sweetness, her beauty and her warmth, only to remember the cold-hearted killer I had seen tonight.

I let out a heavy sigh, looking over at Damon and Caroline. Caroline was on her phone, texting someone. She had been for about ten minutes- I briefly wondered who she was texting, and then decided it didn't matter. I didn't really care about Caroline's social life right now.

Damon was sitting there, glass of bourbon in hand. He took a long swig, draining the glass- and then he poured himself another. 'How many glasses is that now, Damon?' I asked him wearily. 'Six?'

'Seven,' he corrected, raising his glass in my direction. 'And counting.'

I looked away, shaking my head slightly. He always did this. He always resorted to heavy drinking when he was unhappy or depressed.

'Who's Blondie texting?' Damon asked, getting up and glancing over Caroline's shoulder to see her phone screen.

She scowled and shifted away, shielding her phone away from his eyes. 'No one,' she answered.

'Ooh,' Damon smirked. 'Why so protective? Hiding a secret _lover_?'

'Go away.'

'I can't, I live here.'

'You don't live at all.'

'Neither do you.'

'You're such an ass.'

'You wound me,' Damon rolled his eyes. 'Do you hear that? That's the sound of my heart breaking.'

'Will you two stop it?' I snapped, sick of their bickering. They had been going at it since Caroline had gotten here.

Caroline's phone buzzed, and she shot an angry look at Damon before looking down and quickly typing a reply.

'She's texting Tyler,' Damon snorted, having used his speed to dart over to Caroline and read the message before she had a chance to react.

'Damon, you ass!' Caroline shouted at him, looking outraged. 'These are private texts!'

Damon waggled his eyebrows, and Caroline gave him another scowl before looking away with a sulky look on his face.

I opened my mouth to reprimand them both for being so childish when Damon's own phone buzzed. He raised an eyebrow, then looked at Caroline. 'Maybe your wolf-boy got tired of texting you and decided to upgrade.'

Caroline, wisely, didn't respond, and Damon gave up on trying to annoy her and instead read his message.

'What does it say?' I asked him, curious.

He frowned at the screen and then looked up at me. 'It's Ric,' he said. 'He saw Elena at the grill. She came in, looked at someone and then just backed out again.'

'Weird,' I commented. 'Does he know where she went?'

'Nope,' Damon sighed, flopping back down on the couch. 'He said he went out to look for her, but she was already gone. So close, and yet so far.'

'So close to what?' Caroline asked, frowning over at him.

'Killing her,' Damon said, quick and toneless.

'We both know that's not what you want to do, Damon,' I said quietly to him. 'Not to Elena.'

He didn't reply; just rolled his eyes.

'We should make a plan,' Caroline said suddenly. 'A proper plan, I mean; a good one. One that will make Elena stop and come back to us.'

Damon snorted. 'Right. Like that'll be easy.'

'Shut up,' Caroline said simply to him. 'We make a plan. Stefan? What do you think?'

'It's a good idea,' I said after a pause. 'But what could we possibly do? Elena's strong, stronger than all of us put together, I'll bet. How can we make her stop and come back to us, just like that?'

A slow, somewhat frightening grin spread across Caroline's face. 'I have a few ideas.'

**Elena's POV. **

Seymour Dorsten was a nerd. There was no doubt about that. He was the smartest kid I'd probably ever met, but he was a nerd. He wore thick-rimmed glasses and wore sweaters. His shoes looked like they'd never seen mud in their life, and he always spoke with an air of snobbishness.

Yes, if there was ever anyone who could fit the stereotype of your average nerd perfectly, it was Seymour. But I liked him. He was a good kid. He was a smart kid. He was my friend.

So it was him who I called when I returned to the hotel. He answered after the first ring; he must have been awake. He usually did have trouble sleeping. 'Elena?' he asked. Of course he would have my number on speed dial. 'I was waiting for you to call.'

'Then you need to get a life,' I replied. 'How is everything?'

'Not so good,' he admitted. After a few seconds, he added quietly, 'It was Ray's funeral today.'

I didn't falter, didn't let any emotion seep into my voice. 'Don't remind me. Are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' he sighed. He was beyond used to my moods now. 'What made you call me?'

'Your sexy mind.'

I could practically hear him roll his eyes. 'So transparent,' he muttered, and then I heard the typing of keyboard keys through the phone. 'So you want news about Klaus, then.'

'You see right through me,' I grinned. 'What have you found?'

'He hasn't been too careful cleaning up after himself,' Seymour reported. 'There've been reports of some _very_ violent deaths over in LA. The usual, you know. Bodies drained of blood, torn apart- even _squished_, in one case. God knows how he managed that.'

'He's Klaus,' I retorted. 'He can manage anything. Why do you think he's back?'

When he spoke next, Seymour sounded surprised. 'What? Elena, you know why he's back.'

'Yeah,' I sighed. 'Just wanted to see if it was that obvious.' I paused. 'Thanks, Seymour.'

'Don't mention it,' he said. 'How's Mystic Falls?'

I didn't get a chance to reply. There came a sharp, stabbing pain in my back, and I whirled, dropping the phone from my hands.

'What the-?'

'Elena? Elena!' I could hear Seymour through the phone. 'Elena!'

Standing in my doorway was Damon, crossbow in hand. The stench of vervain filled my nostrils, made my lip curl.

'Nice to see you, too,' I grunted, making my way forward to snap his neck, rip his head off, tear away his fingers- whatever.

No one shoots me and gets away with it.

Another vervain-soaked arrow went into my abdomen. I was used to pain like this- five thousand years of life prepared me for pretty much anything- but it still made me stop in my tracks. Seymour was still shouting through the phone, demanding that I answer. For such a smart boy, he sure could be stupid. If he couldn't figure out that something was wrong by now...

'That hurts, Damon,' I said roughly. '_Stop_.'

It's a well known fact that some vampires can compel other vampires- special vampires, like me and Klaus and the others. I used these powers now as I repeated the word, 'Stop.'

Damon froze, crossbow ready to shoot. I smirked triumphantly at him. 'That wasn't very nice,' I scolded mockingly.

'Neither are you,' he said, lips moving stiffly.

I wagged a finger in front of his face. 'Don't speak. Or you'll only annoy me further. If I undo the compulsion, will you try to kill me again?'

'Probably.'

'It'll be fun,' I said, smiling. 'You can move now.'

He sprung into action, shooting the crossbow once more. An arrow went flying right into my cheek- it hurt. Quite a lot. I hissed in pain. Perhaps it wasn't as fun as I'd initially thought it would be.

I pulled the arrow out and sent it flying towards Damon at top speed. He didn't have time to duck out of the way; it pierced his chest and sunk into his flesh, only a few centimetres away from his heart.

I could have killed him with that arrow, if I'd wanted to. I could have killed him and felt no remorse, I was positive. But Damon was fun. He was a nice challenge. It just wouldn't do to have him dead, when our little game was only just beginning.

He let out a pained gasp, dropping to his knees in what seemed like an involuntary movement. I crouched down in front of him, reaching out and tracing my fingers lightly over his cheekbones. 'You see what happens when you get me angry, Damon? It's not good, is it?'

'You're- psychotic-' he gasped out.

I patted his cheek lightly and got back to my feet. 'I know.' I turned around, went to pick up my phone and assure Seymour that I was okay- but before I got to do that, an arrow was in my back and a syringe was plunged into my neck.

I growled, spinning around. Stefan. My hand flew out, sent him flying back against the wall. Poor Mrs Flowers would by now be wondering what on earth was going on in my hotel room. I would have to clear this up for her later. I'd be extra careful to mop up the Salvatore brothers' blood. The sight of it would probably give the poor old lady a heart attack.

I was weakened by the arrow and the vervain syringe, that was for sure. I didn't have as strong a reaction to the herb as other vampires did, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still affect me.

Stefan got to his feet quickly, and then came running at me. I stood my ground, let him run right into me before I grabbed his neck and slammed him up against the wall, my snarling face inches from his. 'Play nice,' I hissed.

He growled at me, struggling underneath my grip. He'd have a better chance trying to lift off a train.

Strong arms encircled my waist, then, and pulled me backwards. I jammed an elbow backwards, hoping that it would hit Damon in the face, but he swiftly moved his head out of the way, and then another syringe was jabbed into my neck. My vision was starting to blur now. Any more of that vervain, and I'd be out.

I hissed and freed myself from Damon's arms, jumping up and stomping a foot down right on his leg. He yelled and cursed at me, and the smirk returned to my face. _It's okay, _I soothed myself. _They can't beat me. I'm too much for the- _

Stefan jammed another syringe into my- my arm this time- and I swayed, and then, ever so slowly, everything faded to black.

'Damn you Salvatores,' I breathed before I fell to an unconscious heap on the floor.

**A/N: New chapter, yay! Thank you to my first reviewer and therefore the only one who gets mentioned, Vera DeDiamant. Thanks, dude. You're awesome. Glad you like it.  
Also, thanks those of you who have favourited/alerted/whatevered the story. Means a lot. Thanks. You are also awesome.  
Cookies for all of you.  
~AlisaPhenom. XoXo**


	3. The Flashbacks

**Chapter 3. **

I awoke in a dark room. It didn't take a genius to figure out that I was locked in a cell, albeit a spacious one, and that the cell was probably located in the cellar of the Salvatore boarding house.

I was lay on the floor, my upper body leaned against the dirty concrete wall. I shifted myself into a more comfortable position, then frowned, looking down at my stomach- two wooden arrows were poking out of my abdomen, and I rolled my eyes before pulling them out, wincing ever so slightly at the sensation. It was nothing I wasn't used to, but that didn't mean it didn't still hurt.

I glanced around at the cell; no furniture, no windows, nothing especially pretty to look at... except for the pair of pretty blue eyes behind the bars fitted into the door.

I smirked. 'Were you watching me while I was asleep? That's a little creepy, don't you think?'

'Why are you here?' His voice sounded pain, and I realised that I was hurting him just by being here. It wasn't surprising; I had never been as oblivious of his feelings for me back when I was human as I often made out to be. My poor boy.

'Why would you want to know that?' I asked with a smile, tilting my head to the side.

He responded by saying, 'Bonnie,' and I was hit with... nothing. I did, however, feel a pressure in the corners of my mind. Again, I rolled my eyes. Bonnie was a powerful witch, of course, but she was nowhere near powerful enough to pull a trick like that on me.

'You'll have to try harder than that,' I said. 'I'm 5000 years old, did you forget?'

Before Damon could respond, I heard the sound of a cell phone buzzing just outside of my cell, and my eyes narrowed. 'Did you take my phone?' I demanded.

'Did you think we wouldn't?' Damon asked, and there was a taunting edge to his voice now. 'What, does that _bother _you?'

I drummed my fingers against the floor, and the light tapping sound filled the silence that followed.

'Who were you on the phone to in your hotel room?' Damon asked after a while.

I giggled. 'Why, are you jealous?'

'It was a guy,' he continued, ignoring my comment. 'A boyfriend?'

'You _are _jealous.'

'Damon, let's just leave her. We're clearly not going to get anything from her.' That voice belonged to Bonnie. I wonder how much it pleased her to have one of the world's oldest vampires locked in a cell, under her control.

Little did she know, I was under no one's control.

'Yes,' I called to them. '_Please_ leave me here unguarded so I can rip the door off its hinges and get back to my hotel.'

They walked away anyway. Clearly underestimating my abilities. 'Not that I couldn't break out of here with you still standing there,' I muttered to myself when they had gone.

Then I grinned. Idiots. Idiots, idiots, idiots. If there was one thing I had learned after being kidnapped by so many people so many times in the past, it was that a wise thing to do would be to keep a spare cell phone on me at all times, in places that no one would think to look.

I let out a small chuckle and reached down into the tight waistband of my pants, pulling out the slim phone I kept there. Surprisingly, no one ever thought to look there. Sometimes I took it as a personal offence, most times I didn't.

I unlocked the phone and dialled in Seymour's number. He picked up on the first ring, clearly anxious. 'Elena, please tell me that's you,' he blurted before I could even get out a hello.

'It is.' I smiled.

'What _happened_? Are you okay? One minute you sounded perfectly fine, then, what- you dropped the phone?'

'I _am _clumsy.'

'You're a five thousand year-old vampire,' he said, and I could hear the scowl in his voice. 'You don't just _drop _things. Did someone attack you?'

'They like to think that they did,' I said, then got to the point. 'As I was saying before, Seymour- I need you to get down to Mystic Falls.'

'What for?'

'I want the company.'

'What _really _for?'

'Well,' I began. 'You'll never guess who I spotted at the Mystic Grill.'

'Klaus?'

I rolled my eyes, pouting. 'You always spoil the fun. I was going to be all dramatic.'

'I kind of figured you'd seen him around when you suddenly asked for all that information before,' he said. 'So, what was he doing? Did he see you, hurt you, speak to you?'

'Nope.'

'Did he _anything_ you?'

'He f-'

'Don't say it,' he said, although I could hear his snort of laughter through the phone. It made me smile. I was glad _someone _as having fun. 'Where are you now?'

'Locked in a dungeon, awaiting a handsome prince in glasses to come rescue me.'

'Break yourself out,' he said. 'I'm heading over to Mystic Falls right away, okay? I'll meet you... where?'

'Mrs Flowers' B&B, just a little way away from the Grill. You'll know it when you see it.'

'See you soon. Try not to get yourself killed before I get there, okay?'

'I'll try to resist the temptation.'

With that, he hung up, and I was alone. I leaned my head against the wall for a little moment, but I couldn't allow myself to get too comfortable- I had to get out of here soon.

It would be a simple task, really. All I needed to do was rip that damn door off its hinges and then make a break for it- I could easily outrun the Salvatore brothers and Bonnie, and anyone else they may have waiting for me upstairs. Then I just needed to keep running until they stopped chasing me, and get over to my hotel to meet Seymour. Piece of cake.

That is, until I heard the footsteps coming towards me, and then- much to my surprise- the door creaked open and my own little brother hesitantly stuck his head through the door. His eyes landed on me, and I didn't look away.

Much as I would hate to admit it, it hurt to see the boy whom I'd once called a brother- the only _real _family I had left- was involved in all of this.

'Decided to let me out?' I asked, refusing to let my emotions rise to the surface.

Jeremy shook his head, still staring at me. 'Elena,' he said quietly.

'Here to torture me, then?'

'I wouldn't hurt you,' he said.

'I wish I could say the same.'

'You're not going to hurt me,' he retorted. Sounded pretty confident, too. The boy had guts, I'd give him that.

'You say that like you think I actually care- like I have a heart, really, hidden underneath all these layers of tight clothing and witty retorts.'

'Don't you?' he asked challengingly.

'No.'

He made a face like he didn't believe me and then looked away. He stepped into the cell, closing the door behind him with a light click, and then just stood there, looking like he didn't know what to do. He probably regretted ever coming down here.

I raised an eyebrow at him. 'Are you playing the hero again, or were Stefan and Damon really stupid enough to send a sixteen year-old human boy down to talk to a five-thousand-year-old vampire?'

'I wanted to come down here,' he said boldly, sticking his chin in the air.

'Then you're an idiot.'

He looked away again. 'You sound just like them.'

'Like who?'

'Like all the evil vampires we've ever gone up against. Damon, Katherine...'

I smirked. 'Run out of names?'

Jeremy ignored that and instead, rather daringly, opted to sit cautiously down beside me. The things I felt, having someone who I used to love so much be so near to me, where overwhelming- he radiated the feeling of home. Unable to resist it, I rested my head on my brother's shoulder.

Gradually, I heard his heartbeat calm. I couldn't have him thinking I wasn't still dangerous. 'If you try anything,' I threatened. 'I won't hesitate to rip your head off.'

He didn't reply, but I had a feeling that he rolled his eyes at me. Then, he spoke again. 'What happened to you, Elena?'

I narrowed my eyes. 'That stupid spell happened.'

'The spell didn't change you into a vampire and take away your humanity.'

'It was certainly a contributing factor.'

'So, what.' He shifted. 'You blame Bonnie for all of this?'

I considered it, then shrugged. 'I certainly don't think she's innocent.'

'But she was only trying to help you. We all were.'

'Are you down here to try to get information out of me?'

When he spoke next, he sounded surprised. 'No. I'm here to talk to my sister.'

'She's not home at the moment,' I deadpanned. 'Please leave a message.'

There was silence for a while. I briefly wondered if I should just shove him away and run out the door now- the escape would be quicker without having to worry about ripping the door off- but then I decided against it. For so long, I had craved some feeling of family, ever since... well, ever since I _had _one. Twice. And lost both of them.

It was nice, however crappy the situation may be, to have my head resting on my brother's shoulder.

After a while, I spoke. 'Do you want to know what happened when I got stranded in India?' I don't know what made me say it, what possessed me to offer to tell him the story. I was feeling sentimental, I suppose.

No matter what my reason was for offering, Jeremy accepted, sounding curious. I was probably playing right into what he and the others wanted from me here- telling them my story, everything they want to know- but, at that moment, I didn't care.

So I told him my story.

_****Flashback** **_

_It took a while of wandering before I settled into my new home. _

_That had been my whole life, really, up until now- just wandering the earth, without a cause. It was all very much a blur, actually. Like I hadn't really lived it, like the memories were someone else's. _

_But now... now that I had found a home, been taken in by a friendly man in a small Indian village known as Rajastan, my life was improving rapidly. I had been accepted as a part of the community, treated as one of their own, loved by my own fake father. Everything was perfect.  
But then a boy arrived in the village- a man, really. He was incredibly handsome, and very mysterious. His name, he said, was Niklaus, though he asked everyone to call him Klaus. And, for some reason, he took a particular interest in myself.  
He talked to me almost every day, if he could. He smiled at me when he smiled at no others, even gave me gifts every so often.  
I did try my best to avoid him. Being near him gave me a bad feeling; I knew nothing about him, after all, except that his name was Niklaus and he was a traveller.  
Then, one day, tragedy struck. My father was found torn apart near the river by our home. I was distraught, of course, as was everyone else in the village. Klaus left immediately after it happened, and this made me suspicious. He had been the last person to be near my father before his untimely death. Could Klaus have been the one to kill him?  
I vowed to learn more about it the next time Klaus visited our village, if he ever did.  
Three years after my father's death, I was still grieving. I missed him terribly, while everyone else seemed to have recovered. The thing I hated most was the sympathetic glances villagers threw my way every so often when they saw me crying outside my home.  
But then, another man came to the village. His name was Rama, and he, too, was a traveller. Unlike Klaus, however, the feeling that Rama gave me was not a bad one. He was kind to me, understanding and sweet. We fell in love, and within a year, we were married with a child- a daughter, named Lalita. I was finally recovered from the death of my father, and I loved my husband and daughter more than anything in the world.  
Until one night. I was having a nightmare, one that was so awful, I woke up in a silent scream. My husband and child didn't even stir, but I was shaken to the core. I do not even remember what was in the nightmare; I just know that it was violent, and very, very frightening.  
Then I heard a noise- a tapping noise. I got out of my bed to investigate, and that was my mistake. Within seconds, someone was behind me, holding me tightly and clasping a hand over my mouth. I felt something sharp poking at my side- a sword, no doubt.  
Panic filled me, and I looked at my family- still, they had not awoken. I couldn't even shout to them, with the hand covering my mouth so tightly. _

_'Elena,' purred an awfully familiar voice. A sick feeling twisted in my gut. 'You have no idea how delighted I am to see you again.' _

_I was frozen with fear; I even stopped struggling against his grip. _

_'If I let you speak, I trust that you will not shout out for help, because surely you know that if you do, your husband and child will be killed right in front of you.' _

_I managed a nod, and in an instant, I was released. I whirled around to face him, my breathing hitched. 'Klaus,' I hissed. _

_He smiled a thin, cruel smile. 'I am glad that you recognise me.' _

_'Why are you here? What are you doing?' I demanded, backing away ever so slightly. _

_His appearance hadn't changed a bit. Shoulder-length blond hair, deathly pale skin, cold blue eyes. He didn't even appear to have aged. His smile didn't falter. 'I came back for you, my lovely Elena.' _

_My shock and fear slowly melted into hate, and then I was glaring at him. 'Leave my home,' I ordered shakily. 'Now.' _

_He chuckled, and suddenly he was standing right in front of me, his cold finger tracing patterns down my cheek. I lifted my chin in the air defiantly, though inside, I was screaming. I refused to look over to Rama and Lalita- if I looked, so would Klaus, and there was no doubt in my mind that he would hurt them. _

_'I could never leave you, Elena,' he murmured. 'Do you see how fast I am?' _

Yes,_ my mind whispered. 'No,' I said stubbornly. 'You trick me. You are a demon.' _

_His laughter was biting. 'You are a treasure, my lovely Elena. Now, silence. I have... a proposition for you.' _

_'What is it?' I spat. _

_'My dear, I am powerful. I have strength that a human like you could only dream of. I have lived for years, now, alone, with no one for me to share my powers with. I am lonely, lovely Elena. I want you to join me, to be like me. Be with me in the darkness forever.' _

_I stared at him, eyes wide. Eventually, I found my tongue, and it was coated with a bitter venom. 'You know me, Niklaus,' I said venomously. 'You know that I speak my mind.' _

_He nodded with a smile, finger still moving on my cheek. 'One of the many traits I admire in you,' he said fondly. _

_'So how can I be your wife when I hate you so?' _

_He stopped moving and took a step away, smile fading, gaze boring into mine. 'You do not hate me, lovely Elena,' he said. 'You are not capable of hatred. Not yet.' _

_'I do. I know it was you who murdered my father. I hate you for it.' _

_'You will forgive me. You will join me, you will love me.' _

_I shook my head, desperate to get away from this situation. 'Why would you want me to join you? Why would you want a partner like me?' _

_'I have wanted you for many years now.' His tone was deadly serious, with no hint of a lie. _

_I shook my head again, glaring as ferociously as I could at him. 'I will never join you.' _

_'Then you will die tonight, lovely Elena,' he said. He sounded sad. I hated him for it. 'After first watching your husband and child die.' _

_'You would never,' I spat, although I knew my words were not true. He would, as he had before. Klaus was a killer. _

_He wanted me to be a killer, too. He would never get his wish. _

_'Oh, I would,' he said with a smile that was as cruel as his words. 'And I shall.' _

_I said nothing. However, as soon as he took a step towards my daughter's crib, I held my hand out desperately. 'Wait!' _

_He turned round, an expectant grin on his face. 'Yes, my lovely Elena?' _

_I closed my eyes, pushing down the feeling of bile rising in my throat. 'I- I will... I will join you, Niklaus.' _

_I kept my eyes closed as he came towards me. I kept my eyes closed as he pulled me into his arms. I kept my eyes closed as he kissed me, and as he drank from me, and even as he bit into his own wrist and pressed the bleeding flesh to my mouth. I kept my eyes closed as I drank. _

_I kept them closed until I awoke the next day and killed a man in order to complete my transition into a demon. _

_Then I started to remember. Remember everything. My past, my future- the truth about vampires, about a town named Mystic Falls, about my life as a girl named Elena Gilbert in the twenty-first century. Those memories merged with the false ones of my life in India, and suddenly, everything made sense. _

_My name was Elena Gilbert. I was here in India thanks to a spell that had gone horribly wrong and sent me back in time. I was a human who was used to the supernatural, to the creatures that walked in the darkness. I had lost two families, now, and somewhere in the future, my friends were living a life without me. _

_And now, I was a vampire. _

_That night, I ran away from Klaus- it wasn't easy, but still, I think he allowed me to run away. I could never figure out why he would do that, but if he was as strong as he claimed to be, then it was the only way, for surely he would have been able to hear my running footsteps when his back was turned. But still, I got away, and I was thankful. I travelled all over the world, settling into different places, meeting new people, killing new victims, just waiting until the day I could return to my former- or future- life.  
I ran away from Klaus that night, and I have been running ever since. _

_****End Flashback** **_

There was silence for a few moments. And then came Jeremy's awed and breathy, 'Wow.'

I smiled slightly. 'Not quite the reaction I had been hoping for.'

'So you were turned by Klaus,' Jeremy said. 'You've been a vampire for five thousand years. You... you killed people.'

'That's just what I do.'

He hesitated, then changed the subject. 'Can you tell me more?'

I frowned. 'What?'

'Tell me more- I mean, come on, you've lived for five thousand years. You must have had some pretty neat experiences, right?'

'I suppose,' I murmured with pursed lips. What was this, Story-time With Elena? But still, being open had felt... kind of nice. I had a desire to tell my little brother more of my story.

So I did. 'What would you like to hear about?'

'Your life recently.'

My eyes narrowed. 'Stop digging for information.'

'I'm not!' he protested. 'I'm... I'm interested, that's all.'

'Why would you be interested?'

'Because you're my sister,' he said calmly. 'And I want to know about your life.'

'I'm not your sister any more, Jeremy,' I said quietly, so low that I doubt he even heard it. But I started my story anyway.

_****Flashback** **_

_Burying bodies was tedious, but it was necessary. _

_The corpse I was shovelling six-feet-under today was a detective named Michael Riley, a somewhat slimy man who had, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to blackmail me by threatening to expose my extreme wealth unless I gave him a million dollars. The very idea of it made me chuckle, even as I finished throwing the last clump of dirt over his body. He wouldn't be bothering me any more, but I was curious- how had he even found out about me? I had thought I was doing an exceptionally good job of keeping myself to myself. He must have had outside help, but why was anyone so interested in me in the first place? _

_That was exactly what I intended to find out. _

_It didn't take long to track Michael's records- he was divorced, with only one child. His son was called Ray Riley, and he- how convenient- had access to his father's files. He attended Mayfair High School in Portland, Oregon. _

_I smiled to myself. Ray Riley was going to get a surprise visit from a certain vampire very, very soon. _

_Enrolling in Mayfair High School was easy, and so was befriending Ray. He was a good kid, good-looking with a nice smile and eyes that were just like my Rama's. He was just out of a long relationship with a girl called Pat McQueen, and he was a good friend to the school nerd, Seymour Dorsten. _

_My first class on my first day happened to be with Ray, and the ease of it all made me grin with delight. I sauntered into the classroom and sat in the seat next to his, just waiting for him to introduce himself. _

_He did, and rather smoothly, too. He took a good, long look at me and smiled. 'Hi. I take it you're the new girl.' He extended his hand. 'I'm Ray Riley, it's nice to meet you.' _

_I gave him my most charming smile. 'The pleasure's all mine. I'm Elena, Elena Gilbert.' I shook his hand. It was warm, and slightly sweaty, and he shook mine for a moment too long, but the moment was nice. I liked him. I decided that I wouldn't kill him when I was done with him; _I may even keep him for myself, _I thought with an internal smirk. _

_We became friends rather quickly after that, though I noticed his ex-girlfriend eyeing me with some petty form of dislike during the class. I made sure to give her my sweetest smile when Ray was looking, and my most devilish smirk when he wasn't. _

_Given that things were going to swimmingly, I decided to make my move. I approached Ray before gym class started, putting my hand on his arm and staring at him with wide, innocent eyes. 'Hi,' I said. 'You know how I only just moved here? Yeah, well, I still need some help with moving all of my stuff in- some of the furniture is _really _heavy.' I flipped my hair over my shoulder and gave him an apologetic smile. 'Would you mind coming over to help me out with it?' _

_He hesitated. 'I... I don't know. I'd have to tell my dad, and he hasn't been home for a few days.' _

_I cocked an eyebrow. 'You don't sound particularly worried about that.' _

_'Oh, it happens a lot,' Ray said, although he looked slightly troubled. 'It's for work, see. He's a detective.' _

_'Sounds glamorous.' _

_Ray shrugged. 'He'd disagree. Anyway, I'd better call him, see if it's okay. I'll meet you at the gates after school if he agrees.' _

_I pouted slightly. 'But if he doesn't agree, I'll be left waiting for you at the gates. I could be there for hours before I get the picture.' _

_He smiled. 'Well, then, I guess I should give you my number so that you're not left waiting for no one.' _

_'You probably should.' _

_He scrawled a cell phone number on a piece of paper he ripped from his math book, then handed it to me. Our fingers brushed as he did so; it felt nice. _

_I shot him a flirty smile. 'I'd better get to gym class. See you later, Ray.' _

_'Hopefully,' he added. _

Very hopefully, _I thought wryly. I'd get Ray to my house, get him to start worrying about his missing father, persuade him to stop by at his office to see if he's there, and from then on, I'd find a way to get into his dad's files. _

_Of course, I could just _compel _him to do all of that, but I enjoyed a challenge every once in a while. _

_I made my way down to gym class, getting changed quickly and then jogging out to the field with the other girls. To my surprise, that day's gym class was going to be done with the boys, as the other sports areas were out of bounds and only the field was available. _

_The other girls complained, but I shrugged it off. Our lesson today would be on archery- I smiled a secretive smile to myself. I enjoyed archery. I was a pretty good aim, if I did say so myself. Granted, a high school teaching archery to teenagers was ever so slightly old-fashioned, but old-fashioned was good. Old-fashioned was nice. I myself was old-fashioned. _

_I picked up a bow and five arrows and made my way over to a target. I only managed to shoot two of the arrows before I felt someone standing behind me, doing nothing. I raised an eyebrow and turned around to face them, arrow drawn. I wasn't supposed to look threatening, but apparently I did, because the boy who had been stood behind me took a large step back and held his hands up defensively. 'I come in peace,' he said. _

_I dropped the bow. _

_He continued, 'All the other targets are taken, so I figured I'd join you on yours, since you seem to be the only one on this field who can actually shoot an arrow.' _

_Glancing around, it was true. The other students were shooting in random places- a slender girl with red hair and a vicious smile shot an arrow in Pat McQueen's direction. The move was obviously deliberate, and poor little Pat McQueen had missed being impaled with a wooden arrow by about half an inch. 'I see,' I said simply. 'Shoot away.' _

_He did so. After a few minutes of what I thought was a comfortable silence, the boy cleared his throat. 'My name's Seymour,' he introduced, even though I hadn't asked. 'Seymour Dorsten.' _

_I nodded and took in his appearance. Terribly thin and gangly, tall, with pale skin and dark circles under his brown eyes. Thick glasses framed those eyes, and he was dressed in an oversized sweater with jeans and Converse. 'I'm Elena Gilbert,' I said. I even offered him a smile. 'You look like a nerd.' _

_He grinned a lopsided grin. 'I know,' he said with a chuckle. 'My mom gave me a nerdy name, so I figured I may as well fit into the stereotype and look like one, too.' _

_I laughed.'I like you.' _

_'I have to tell you now, before you become irrevocably in love with me- I'm not looking for a relationship right now.' _

_'Damn, there goes my plan to seduce you into marriage,' I muttered with a smirk. _

_'You're a good shot,' he noted, gesturing to my bow and arrow. 'Where'd you learn that?' _

_I shifted on my feet. 'I had... classes. When I was younger.' _

_He nodded. I really did like Seymour, and I grew to like him even more as the class went on. He was funny and sweet and sarcastic; great best friend material. He was also smart- incredibly so, judging by what I saw of him in just that lesson. I exchanged numbers with him that day, too. _

_After school, I made my way over to the gate and leaned against it. They were dirty, and smudged my light-cream blouse with dirt, but I didn't mind. After five minutes, I pulled out my phone, expecting to see that I had missed a call from Ray letting me know he wasn't coming, but as soon as I did so, I noted a figure walking towards me and smiled. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. _

_'Good to see you showed up,' I said. _

_Ray grinned. 'I can't miss my chance to help out a damsel in distress, can I?' _

_I chuckle. 'I don't need a knight in shining armour to help me. But it's always nice.' _

_And with that, we set off towards my home. It was a plain, suburban affair, unfurnished and small._

_Ray whistled when he saw it. 'You live here all on your own?' _

_I shrug and look away. 'My parents are out of town for a few days,' I lie smoothly. Then I look back to him, meeting his eyes and smiling. 'I guess you know what that's like.' _

_He nodded and he frowned as we entered the house. 'There's no furniture,' he stated blandly. _

_I laugh. 'That's why I asked you over, remember?' _

_'But... there's not even a bed. Where did you sleep last night?' _

_'On the floor.' _

_He raised his eyebrows. 'Is that healthy?' _

_'Probably not.' I gestured around the room. 'That's why I need your help. All the furniture is way too heavy for me.' _

_He nodded again, and we got to work together. We work for roughly an hour before Ray stops suddenly. 'I need to phone my dad. Tell him where I am, in case he gets back later and worries about me not being here.' _

_I tilt my head to the side, feigning confusion. 'You didn't call him before?' _

_He hesitated, before replying, 'I knew he'd say no.' _

_I simply nodded. 'Call away.' _

_He stepped into a corner of the room to make the phone call, obviously unknowing that I could hear him even if he was stood outside. _

_Ten seconds later, he walked back to me, brows furrowed. 'He isn't picking up.' _

_I raised an eyebrow, shifted on my feet. 'Is everything okay? You did say he hasn't been home in a few days. Maybe you should be worried.' _

_He paused, then looked back down at his phone. 'He should have called by now,' he said quietly. _

_'He usually calls you when he's away for more than a day?' _

_Ray nodded his head. 'And he hasn't even sent me a text message.' _

_'Ray,' I said, inserting the appropriate amount of worry into my voice. 'Maybe something happened.' _

_'You think?' _

_'I think you should check it out,' I said. 'Was he working on a case?' _

_'Yeah, he was,' Ray murmured. 'But he wouldn't tell me what case it was. Said that...' A sudden look of realization dawned on Ray's face. 'Said that he'd be back on time.' _

_I frowned. 'He had an office, didn't he?' _

_'Yeah, he did.' _

_'Maybe you should check by there, see if any of the staff have seen or heard from him. Maybe you could even get some information on the case he was working on.' _

_Ray hesitated. 'I don't know if that's a good idea. He wouldn't like me snooping.' _

_'It'll be worth it to find out if he's safe, though,' I counter, and reach out to place my hand gently on his arm. 'I'll go with you. It won't be breaking an entering, it's just a boy being concerned for his father's well-being. He won't begrudge you that, trust me.' _

_A few moments passed before he finally nodded. 'Okay,' he agreed. 'Okay, yeah. Let's do it. I have a key to his office anyway.' _

_I smiled. At least I wouldn't have to wait until he wasn't looking to break the lock. _

_We made our way down to his father's office by foot- thankfully, it was only a pleasant ten minute walk away from my little house, and that certainly wasn't too long for an ancient vampire and a healthy teenage boy. _

_When we arrived, he unlocked the door and we crept through until we reached the secretary's desk. She smelled like cigarette smoke and musky perfume, and she said that she, too, hadn't seen Detective Riley in a few days. How odd. One would almost think that the man was dead or something. _

_I gave myself an internal smile. Ah, yes. One would be correct in thinking that. _

_So we snooped around for a short while in Detective Riley's office, and I'm quite sure that Ray felt like a detective himself. I, on the other hand, barely bothered looking and stood by the door with my eyes fixed on the computer. _

_When Ray was about to give up, I spoke. 'Why don't you look on the computer?'_

_He is hesitant, but a gentle push of his mind makes him give in, and I stand beside him as he types in the password- RAYGUN- and opens the files. _

_Then I stiffened my body and grasped his shoulder. 'Did you hear that?' I whispered. _

_He frowned. 'I didn't hear anything.' _

_'I did,' I insisted, snapping my head towards the window. I bit my lip in faux worry. 'Could you check it out? I'm scared.' _

_He frowned, but then he nodded, pushed the chair back and went ouside. _

_I didn't hesitate. I bolted the door after him and pulled my memory stick from my jacket pocket, jamming it into the computer and silently willing for the download to go quicker. 10%... 30%... 50%... _

_'Elena,' Ray's voice called from outside. 'There's nothing here.' _

_'Are you sure?' I called back. 'Check again, would you?' _

_He grumbled unhappily, but obliged. _

_70%... 90%... _

_'There's no- hey, why is the door locked?' Ray banged on the door. 'Elena, open up!' _

_I bolted over to the door and pretended like I was trying my very hardest to pull it open. 'I- can't- it's stuck!' _

_'_What_?' _

_100% downloaded. The computer gave a quiet beep of completion, and I wince, hoping Ray didn't hear it. Fortunately, he was too busy rattling the door frame. _

_I pulled the memory stick from the computer, deleted the files and then whizzed back to the door. I unbolted the door slowly, and then Ray gave a great push and came stumbling into the room, eyes wide. I caught him before he fell to the ground, and he gazed up at me. _

_Then I positioned him upright and let him continue searching the files. Obviously, he found nothing, and so after another ten minutes of snooping, we left. Ray was clearly disappointed, and I tried my best to comfort him before we parted ways. He said that he was tired, and just wanted to go home and think some things over. _

_When I returned home after that, I read the files.  
__**August 8**__**th**__**:  
This morning I received a fax from a man named Mr. Slim. He introduced himself as an attorney for a variety of wealthy clients in Europe, and he wanted me to investigate a young woman named Elena Gilbert. The woman lives right here in Portland, according to him, but other than that, he had little information on her. He also mentioned a few other names he might have me look into in the future, but right now, I am to focus on Miss. Gilbert. He is particularly interested in her financial situation, her family situation, and also- and this is surprising- whether she has been associated with anyone who has had a violent death recently. When I faxed back and asked if this woman was dangerous, Mr. Slim replied with an indication that the young woman was much more dangerous than she appeared, and I was not to contact her directly under any circumstances. He said that she appears to be only eighteen to twenty-two years old.  
I am admittedly intrigued, especially since Mr. Slim has agreed to deposit ten thousand dollars in my personal account to start me on my investigation. Is this young woman- girl, really- so important to him? Why? I have already faxed back telling him that I will take the case. I have Miss. Gilbert's address and social security number. I do not have a picture of her, but I intend to take one for my records, even though I have been warned to keep my distance. But how dangerous can she be, at that age? **_

_**September 21**__**st**__**:  
Miss. Gilbert has gone to extremes to hide her financial holdings, and not just from the IRS.  
She has numerous accounts at various brokerage houses set up under different corporations, some off-shore. Yet they all appear to be coordinated by a single New York law firm: Benson and Sons. I tried to contact the firm directly, speaking as a rich investor, but they rebuffed my inquiries, making me suspect that they handle Miss. Gilbert's account and no other. If that is **__**true, it is another example of the woman's wealth, as Benson and Sons have investments in the range of half a billion dollars.  
Yet I have seen her, this Elena Gilbert, and she is as young as Mr. Slim says, and very attractive. But her age confuses me, and I wonder if she has a mother somewhere who has the same name. Because many of her business dealings go back over two decades, and they can all be traced back to the name Elena Gilbert. I am tempted to talk to her directly, despite Mr. Slim's warning.  
Speaking of Mr. Slim; he is not happy with me, and the feeling is mutual. He clearly has the impression that I have been withholding information from him, and he is right, but he has also been doing the same to me. He still refuses to tell me why he is so interested in this young lady, although I can imagine several scenarios. But his initial comment about her dangerous nature keeps coming back to me. Just who is Elena Gilbert? One of the richest people in the world, obviously. But where did she get her wealth? Through violent means? Through her non-existent family? I must, before I end this case, ask her these questions myself.  
I have been thinking that Mr. Slim has been paying me well, but Miss. Gilbert may be willing to pay me more. I do not plan on telling Mr. Slim that I have gone behind his back; there is a certain ruthless tone to his faxes, and I certainly wouldn't like to meet the man in person. Yet I find myself looking forward to talking to Elena.  
**__I raise an eyebrow. Late September, and he was on a first-name basis with me. I was glad I took these files before Ray could read them.  
It didn't take me long to find a way to contact Mr. Slim- we faxed each other and arranged to meet up. It took no persuasion at all after I told him who I was. We agreed to meet at Portland pier, alone.  
Naturally, he didn't stick to this term. He came armed, with several men to back him up.  
I killed him and all of his men, drinking their blood, too. Before I did that, though, I got a name from Slim, the name of the person he was working for, the man who was after me. _

_Klaus. _

_I was shaken, but life went on. I continued my friendship with Ray and Seymour. I even told Seymour about what I was, and Ray eventually found out, too, after a certain near-death experience had forced me to turn him into a vampire. Not the best way for him to find out, but he got over it. All was going well. Me and Ray were in love, me and Seymour were best friends, and I was almost happy, for the first time in many years.  
Until disaster struck. I discovered that Ray had been killed, and I immediately knew it was Klaus who had killed him. I ran away from Mayfair on that same day, keeping in contact only with Seymour Dorsten.  
Mystic Falls was where I eventually ended up. Back to where it all started. _

_****End Flashback** **_

Jeremy didn't stay for long after that. He mumbled, 'I should go,' and then scrambled to his feet, running out of the door before he could hear my reply. He slammed the door behind him, and I was left alone.

I sighed to myself. It was about time that I got out of this god-forsaken dungeon anyway.

**Bonnie's POV. **

None of us met Jeremy's eyes when he returned; he was clearly shaken by Elena's tales, and he knew that we had all listened in. 'We can trust her,' he stated quietly. 'She was definitely being sincere.'

I had to admit, Elena's story had broken my heart a little bit. The girl who lost her father, husband and daughter to Klaus was still my best friend, and maybe the vampire girl who had lost Ray Riley had still been her, too.

'Well, what do we do now?' Damon asked, his face clouded. 'We can't exactly let her go. She'll go on a killing spree. We can't just start feeling sorry for her because she has her own little sob story.'

I glared at him. 'We can't let Klaus find her, either,' I said.

He rolled his eyes. 'Well, obviously. So, I repeat my question, witch: _what do we do_?'

I didn't have an answer for that. I just knew that, murderous vampire or not, that protective feeling I had of Elena was back. I was going to make sure that she didn't fall into the hands of Klaus, and so were the others in the room. She may not be the Elena Gilbert we all knew and loved, but we would protect her. No matter what.

**A/N: Chapter three is heeeere. Sorry about the huge-ass delay. Took a while to type this one up because of all the flashbacks and stuff. If you see any mistakes, I do apologize for them. Please do leave a pretty little review, it would mean ever so much to me, and thank you if you have already. Thank you also to everyone who has this story on their following/favourites list.  
~Heather. XoXo**


	4. The Dagger

**Chapter 4. **

**Elena's POV. **

I rolled my eyes as I listened into their conversation; they were all fools. What made them think that they could protect me, that I even _needed _protecting? What made them think they had any right to suddenly kiss my ass after injecting me with vervain and locking me up in a cell?

The very nerve of them. Treating me like a prisoner and then talking about me like they had any right to discuss _my _future.

I sighed, and then got to my feet. I decided it was about time that I leave, and so, with no hesitation, I gripped the heavy door of the cell and tore it right off its hinges. The sound was harsh to my ears, and obviously the group upstairs heard it, but that didn't matter. Besides Klaus, I was the fastest vampire in the world.

I ran at full speed up the stairs and whizzed right past each member of the group. It satisfied me to see their shocked faces as I blurred away form them, and then I was out of the house and free.

I ran until I reached my hotel, and even then, I locked my doors before I collapsed onto the bed and stared at the ceiling for a good half an hour, tracing each individual line with my eyes before rolling over to my side and frowning.

Klaus. I'd seen him, at the Mystic Grill. He was still in town, still after me. I cursed mentally. What the hell was I supposed to do? I was reluctant to leave Mystic Falls so soon after arriving, but it didn't look like I had much choice. I couldn't exactly stay here, not with Klaus wondering the streets. If he saw me... I don't know what he'd do. Kill me? Join me? Either scenario was unbearable.

But then a wave of indignation hit me from somewhere inside of me, and my eyes narrowed. No. Why should I have to keep running? I was sick of it, sick of having to uproot any time Klaus' name was mentioned. Why should I spend all these years running away from him... when I can just kill him?

Quick as lightening, a plan starts to form in my head. It wouldn't be easy- no, certainly not. Killing a vampire as powerful as Klaus could never be easy, not in a million and one years. Granted, my strength wasn't much less than his- he was, after all, only some twenty or thirty years older than me in vampire years- but that didn't mean that he was easy to get rid of. There would have to be a lot of careful planning involved, maybe a few other vampires and witches, for extra strength.

It would be difficult... but it could work.

A grin formed on my face, then faded slightly. To kill an original vampire such as Klaus, there was a certain weapon that one needed to use. Unfortunately, I did not currently have that weapon at my disposal, but I had friends, who had friends of friends. With the contacts I had, it wouldn't be too difficult to get my hands on a white-oak-ash stake.

A grimace twisted my face, replacing the grin. I knew one person who certainly had one or more of those stakes at his disposal. He'd taken a certain pleasure in proving it to me a few times.

With a sigh, I pulled out my spare phone and dialled a phone number. It was time to arrange a meeting.

**Damon's POV. **

Caroline, Stefan and I only managed to follow Elena up to the Mystic Grill. Then she disappeared, taking off at a speed I had only witnessed from Klaus before, and we'd lost her.

We went back to the boarding house to tell the others, and then I lost it. I slammed my fist into the wall, cursed, yelled, threw bottles and glasses and stomped my foot like some kind of teenager throwing a tantrum.

But I didn't care what the others thought of me- they couldn't judge me, none of them. If they weren't so uptight in their stupid self-control, they'd probably be joining me in my little rant.

However, this wasn't the case, and so Stefan was the one to calm me down. 'Damon, calm down,' he ordered. Not the most creative soothing words, but he got an A plus for effort. Or maybe an A minus. 'We can still find her,' he added.

I snorted, whirling round to glare at him. 'Like hell we can,' I snarled.

'We can,' Caroline insisted for him. 'Can't you smell her scent? She left a trail, even if it wasn't deliberate. We can track her now, to an extent. Follow her to wherever she's gone and then take her by surprise.'

I looked at Caroline for a moment or two, then shook my head. 'She'd detect us in a second.'

Bonnie shrugged. 'It's worth a try,' she said quietly.

I looked at them all, each and every one of them, and raised my eyebrows. 'Well, if it's all of you against one...' I muttered.

And so we wasted no time; the three vampires of the group, myself included, followed Elena's alluring scent to a local Bed and Breakfast and then waited, hidden amongst bushes and shrubs. We waited and waited until the ancient vampire finally came out of her hidey-hole and took off running to some other unknown place.

I rolled my eyes. 'Does she ever stop moving around?' I hissed quietly.

Stefan shushed me, but looked like he agreed, nonetheless.

We waited a fair amount of time before taking off to follow her again, being so careful to remain undetected that it was a miracle even _we_ knew that we were following Elena.

'Where do you think she's going?' Caroline whispered as we ran.

'Why the hell do you think either one of us would know?' I shot back in the same whisper-y tones. She scowled at me, and Stefan rolled his eyes and made a point of positioning himself between us.

'She could be going to meet someone,' Caroline continued. 'Maybe that guy you said she was on the phone to before.'

Without warning, something in my gut twisted, and so did the expression on my face. 'Maybe,' I muttered. What was that feeling? I'd felt it before. Was it jealousy? But- no, it couldn't be. Elena had changed; she wasn't the human girl I'd once been in love with. How could I feel jealousy if there was nothing to be jealous of?

But still, the twisted feeling stayed there for the rest of the journey, until Elena finally came to a stop outside a small house I had thought was unoccupied. Elena whipped around before she entered, as if she sensed that something was following her, and the three of us ducked down behind another set of conveniently placed hedges until she finally narrowed her eyes and stepped through the door.

Caroline, Stefan and I all exchanged a look, then changed our location so we were crouched just outside one of the low-set windows of the grimy house.

So Elena _was_ meeting someone. I cocked an eyebrow. This was going to be interesting.

**Elena's POV. **

'You're late,' James Wright snarled as I entered through the door of the small house.

I flashed him a sweet smile. 'Fashionably.'

He gave me a long look of loathing from his place behind the small, round table. He had always made plain his dislike of me, made no show of hiding it. I didn't mind. Our interactions were always purely business-related, and he had only tried to kill me once so far. As long as that attempt was never repeated, I could handle James' opinion.

But that didn't mean I wouldn't antagonize him about it.

I fluttered my eyelashes at him as I slid into the seat opposite him. 'Thank you for meeting me on such short notice,' I said.

'It's not like I had much of a choice,' he muttered, fiddling with the brown paper bag in his hands.

I tilted my head to the side with a frown. 'Of course you had a choice- yes, I'll meet you, or no, I won't.' Then I smiled brightly. 'You're looking wonderful. Have you been working out?'

'Let's just cut to the chase,' he said with a glare. He brought the paper bag up above the table and slid it towards me. 'I believe this is what you wanted?'

I raised an eyebrow and dipped my hand inside the bag, poking around until my finger sliced against something sharp and the sharp smell of my own blood reached my nostrils. I nodded. 'It is.'

James frowned at me. 'You didn't even look.'

I rolled my eyes. 'I cut my finger on it- it's hardly going to be a stuffed toy.'

'And I take it you can smell the white-oak-ash.' He snorted.

'Something like that.' I narrowed my eyes at him. 'You're getting sloppy.'

He paused, and he suddenly looked offended. 'What makes you say that?' he asked coldly, obviously unhappy with my comment.

'Because you kept the deadliest, most sought-after weapon in the world in a paper bag.' He snorted again, and I smirked. 'Thank you for your help,' I added sincerely.

'Yeah, whatever,' he muttered, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. 'I guess we're even now. But... just one thing.'

I frowned. 'What?'

'Why do you even want that?' He nodded to the paper bag in my hands, the inoffensive little paper bag which held a possible way to kill Klaus once and for all.

I shrugged nonchalantly. 'Personal reasons,' I said, before scraping the chair back and getting to my feet. 'It's been a pleasure doing business with you. Again.'

'I wish I could say the same.'

I pouted at him, then laughed and turned, sauntering out of the door in that cocky manner I know he despises me for. I throw him a tinkly little wave before I leave, and I take pleasure in seeing the grimace cross his face.

I clicked the door shut gently behind me, then paused, and a grin formed on my face. 'I know you're there,' I called out to them, only to receive no reply. Like they couldn't hear me. 'I said,' I called again, louder this time, 'I know you're there!'

Damon was the first to reveal himself, lazy smirk spread across his face, from behind the bush. 'You caught us,' he said in that drawl of his.

'Following me is a little bit creepy, don't you think?' I asked, twiddling with one of my dark curls. 'I might have to call your mom, Caroline, and then you'll get into trouble.'

Caroline popped her head up from behind the bush, eyes narrowed and burning with indignance. 'Shut up,' she sneered, ever so creatively.

I smirked at her, then rolled my eyes, stepping down from the porch slowly, deliberately. 'You may as well come out from hiding too, Stefan,' I said tauntingly. 'You're cursing me so loudly in your head that I can hear it from all the way over here.'

He didn't look too happy when he, too, revealed himself. 'What were you doing in there, Elena?' he asked. I rolled my eyes; Stefan had always been the brother with the annoying habit of being a constant bore. 'Who were you meeting- and what's in the bag?'

'Oh, this?' I waved the paper bag in the air. 'Just a snack.'

'What do you think we are, idiots?' Damon narrowed his eyes at me. 'What is it, Elena?'

'Well, if you're not idiots, _you _can tell _me_,' I said with a wink, crossing my arms. 'No? No incredibly deductive guesses? A pity.' I pouted, then smirked. 'Anyway, it's been nice chatting with you all, but I have somewhere I need to be. You know me; I'm one busy, busy vampire.' I offered them the same little wave that I gave to James and started to walk away, but the three of them were blocking my way before I could take another step.

Of course, I could have stopped them if I wanted to- tossed them all aside with a flick of my wrist or just pulled their hearts out before they could utter another hateful word towards me. But where would be the fun in that? Surprisingly enough, I liked having them around- it was entertaining for me to see them act so tough, like they could beat me any time they wanted, just because they've had a ridiculous amount of luck in the past. It amused me.

What also amused me was how smug they looked right now, blocking my path, as if they were some kind of heroes for being quick enough to stand in front of me.

I clapped slowly, giving them the applause they apparently thought they deserved. 'Bravo,' I said flatly. 'Very well done. You foiled my grand plan of walking away- you must be so proud of yourselves.'

I would have stayed to converse with them more after that, but I hadn't been lying just to get away from them; I really was a busy, busy vampire. I had to go meet Seymour... where? Was he flying into Virginia from Oregon? Presumably. Which meant that my best bet would be to go look for him at the airport. He should arrive soon enough that I wouldn't be waiting there for _hours_ on end- maybe just half of one, a whole hour at tops.

So, with that heavily sarcastic impression of praise, I easily made a gap between Damon and Caroline's bodies and squeezed through it, running away before they could even react.

I smiled to myself as I ran to the airport, paper bag still in hand, thinking: _I think I'm going to enjoy myself here. _

****AT THE AIRPORT** **

After flipping my way through a large amount of glossy magazines, I finally received a call from Seymour telling me that his plane had landed and he had arrived. I shook my head with a slight chuckle, just imagining him staggering around the airport, bumping into people as he searched for me.

Much to my amusement, I got to see this first-hand, as I spotted him near Gate 2, after knocking into a blonde woman's suitcase and then standing on someone else's foot as he frantically apologized to the her.

Several awkward and clumsy moments later, Seymour finally reached me, and he surprised me by wrapping his arms around me in a hug.

Now, don't get me wrong- Seymour was one of my closest friends, one of the only people I could trust with my life nowadays. But hugging was just... not my style. It was something that I generally didn't do. So I didn't feel _too _guilty when I hastily pulled away and offered him a friendly handshake instead.

'Hello, Seymour,' I greeted. Then I frowned, taking in his appearance. 'Have you been eating properly?'

His hands immediately moved to cover up his flat stomach, even though his baggy jumper already did a pretty good job of it. It was a self-conscious gesture, often made by humans who wanted to hide themselves away. I didn't like that Seymour was making it. 'Yes,' he said defensively.

I raised an eyebrow, not caring that I sounded like his mother. 'You're lying,' I observed. 'You're skinnier than ever, Seymour. You'll turn into a pile of bones if you don't start eating properly.'

'I'm just not hungry,' he muttered, looking away. Then he rolled his eyes, the sharp dark eyes that were magnified under his thick glasses. 'Good to see you too, Elena.'

Then I grinned at him. 'Did you miss me?'

He put a hand over his heart, throwing his head back dramatically. 'Terribly so!' he exclaimed in a breathy voice, as if it were the most awful thing that could happen to a person.

I laughed. 'Yeah, I missed you, too, buddy.'

'_Buddy_,' he repeated with a snort. 'What am I, your faithful, loving dog?'

'Well...' I trailed off with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes again. 'Don't finish that sentence.'

We exchanged more teasing banter as we left the airport, but we switched to a more serious subject as I hailed a cab- purely for the Seymour's benefit, of course.

'So,' he said casually, popping a peanut from the packet he'd got on the plane into his mouth. 'Klaus is in Mystic Falls.'

'He is.'

'Do you think he knows you're there?'

I frowned. 'Maybe.'

'Well, why else would he be there?' Seymour asked, blinking at me from behind his huge glasses.

I shrugged. 'Before I got sent back to 5000 B.C, Klaus pretty much lived to torment me and my friends back. You have to remember, that was only a week ago to them- I was stupid to think that he wouldn't still be here.'

'Right.' Seymour nodded. 'So, if he doesn't know you're here, then why don't you just sneak away while you have the chance?'

I hesitated, then put my hand in my pocket so I could run my fingers across the paper bag I had stuck in there. I felt the shape of the cool blade under my fingers and resisted the urge to smile; that dagger, the little dagger dipped just once in white-oak-ash, was my ticket to freedom. It was a source of comfort to have it there, to know that, with its help, Klaus would soon be dead. 'Because,' I said secretively with a slow smirk, 'I have another plan.'

**A/N: Aaaand I'll leave it there. Lovely. Lovely end to a lovely chapter. Although not really, because the chapter's kinda late and suck-ish and I'm really tired and that's a rubbish ending. Oh, well. I'd love it if you guys could drop me a review anyway, just to brighten this author's day a little bit. Pretty please? Thank you to those of you who already have, as well as to those of you who added this story to their favourites, alerts, etc. **

**Well, gracias, and see you next chapter.  
~Heather. **


	5. The Truce

**Chapter 5**

**Elena's POV**

'That,' Seymour said, breaking the expectant silence that had followed my explanation, 'is the single most stupid plan you've possibly ever come up with.'

My smile immediately dropped into a frown. 'What, you don't think it's a good idea?' I asked.

He stared at me from behind his thick glasses like I was the biggest idiot on the planet. 'No, Elena, I don't think it's a good idea.' He shook his head, lying back against the only bed in my motel room and fixing his gaze on the ceiling. 'It's too dangerous. Way, way too dangerous. Are you forgetting that Klaus is the single most powerful being in the history of time, or have you conveniently ignored that part?'

'I'm aware of that,' I said defensively. 'But I'm almost as powerful as him. With some help, I could do it, Seymour, I know I could. I could kill Klaus and never have to spend my life running from him again.'

He glanced at me sympathetically. 'It's a nice thought,' he said. 'And I wish it were that easy. But we both know that it's not.'

I looked down at the dagger with a sigh. I was sat cross-legged on the bed by Seymour's feet, with only the paper bag containing the handy little weapon between us. 'It could be,' I whispered. 'I'm sick of being afraid of him, Seymour. I'm sick of running from him, sick of wasting my life because of him. Sick of seeing him kill the people I love just because I love them.'

'I understand,' Seymour said. 'And I don't blame you. But... this? Risking your life to kill him? Isn't it a little drastic?'

'At this point,' I said grimly, looking out of the window as the darkening sky. 'I think I'd rather die than continue living the way I am now. This is a game I cannot lose, Seymour.'

There was a long pause, and just as I was beginning to wonder whether I would need to convince Seymour further, he gave a nod. 'Okay,' he said reluctantly. 'Okay. Let's do it. Let's kill Klaus. I... oh, God, we're insane. We're insane, aren't we?'

I grinned at him. 'Only a little bit.'

'We're going to need help,' he said, looking thoughtful. 'How about that bunch who kidnapped you earlier? Maybe they could help.'

'I'd sooner bite off my own tongue than go to them for help,' I said bitterly.

'Is it the kidnapping thing?' Seymour asked, a mocking tone to his voice. 'Did it hurt your pride to get locked up by a bunch of toddler-vampires?'

'No,' I shot back immediately. 'They're just... tedious. It's all _save Elena this, protect Elena that_. Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't killed any of them already.'

'I'm not.' Seymour's voice was sly and knowing.

I narrowed my eyes at him. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'As soon as you admit that you care about your old friends, it won't mean anything.' He grinned, and dodged the pillow that I threw at his head. Good job he did, too- it could have decapitated him, with that amount of force behind it.

'Seymour,' I said, scowling at him. 'You're smart- really, you are- but there are times when I seriously doubt that your level of intelligence is as high as you seem to think it is.'

'I bet you're secretly dying to go to them for help,' he continued, ignoring me.

'Stop talking.'

He laughed, and I stared at him with a straight face until he stopped and cleared his throat. 'So, uh, in all seriousness,' he said, pushing his glasses up on his nose after they'd slid down in his laughter. 'We should go to them for help. They have vampires, they have a witch, they have...'

'Snacks?' I prompted.

'Humans aren't snacks.'

'Maybe not to _you_,' I said with a shrug, then I sighed. 'I suppose it is our best option. But... there are other vampires and witches in the world, you know. And I have many contacts who could help us out.'

'But you know you can trust these guys,' he pointed out. 'And, honestly, we don't have any time to waste gathering people from halfway across the world. Like you said, this is our best option.'

I hesitated, biting my lip. He was right, damn him. After a few moments, I sighed and said, 'Fine. We'll go see them today. But I swear to God, Seymour, if one of them does a single thing to annoy me, I will pull their heart out and feed it to you.'

Seymour grinned. 'Sounds fair enough.'

o-o-o-o

I didn't need to knock on the boarding house when I arrived. I knew that they could hear me. Still, though, no one came to the door- they merely waited for me to barge in.

So I did, and when I entered the living room, they were prepared for me. I rolled my eyes at the sight of them. Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Alaric, Bonnie, Jeremy, Matt... 'You all really need to get a hobby,' I said with a raised eyebrow.

Numerous glares were sent my way, and Bonnie was immediately defensive, like a haunched cat. Cute. I smiled at her. 'Now, now- let's play nice. Can't a girl pay an innocent visit to her friends without having her motives questioned any more?'

'Not when that girl is a psychopath,' Damon retorted.

I frowned. 'I'm not the one who kidnapped a harmless vampire and kept her locked in a basement for no reason whatsoever.'

'Harmless?' he repeated incredulously. 'No reason whatsoever? You're a killer, Elena.'

'So are you. At least I'm honest about it.' I smiled, and he stayed silent. I looked at the others and released a weary sigh. 'Believe it or not, I'm here to ask for your help.' Damon snorted. I hushed him with a glare, then continued, 'And, if you do help me, it would be beneficial to all of us.'

There was a hesitation. And then Jeremy, ever the loving brother, asked, 'What do you need help with?'

'Killing Klaus.' I smiled and waited for the questions to begin.

My old friends did not disappoint. 'You want to kill Klaus?' Stefan asked skeptically.

'Of course I want to kill Klaus,' I said, shooting him a disapproving look for being so slow. 'Don't pretend that you didn't hear my little life story earlier. You know that I've spent my life running from him- it's the curse of the doppelgánger, apparently. So yes, I want to kill him, and I'm going to need some help in doing it.'

'What makes you think we'll help you?' Bonnie asked boldly, her chin lifted defiantly in the air.

I looked at her, amused. 'Of course you'll help,' I said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 'I'm asking you nicely. And besides, you want Klaus dead just as much as I do, right? This would help us all. You know it would.'

'And how do we know that we can trust you?' Alaric interrupted, eyes narrowed.

I shrugged. 'I have a trustworthy face. Will you help me or not? I'm a busy vampire. If you won't help me, I'll just go to someone else, and then I'd come back and kill you all for being useless wastes of air.' I finished with a sweet smile. 'What do you say? Yes, or no?'

'How exactly do you plan on killing Klaus?' Stefan asked with a frown. 'Do you have a plan? A weapon?'

'I always have a plan,' I responded, pulling the paper bag out of my jacket and giving it a little wiggle in the air. 'This little beauty right here will be enough to kill Klaus. All I need is a witch and a few distractions, and then I'll be able to get close enough to stab him with it.'

'Let me see that,' Damon said. He reached out for the bag, but I snatched it back immediately, eyes narrowed. He sighed. 'Let me see it, Elena.'

'Not until I have your word that you'll help me,' I countered. 'See, I need to know that you're on my side before I let you even see this. It's very important to me, you understand, and I'd simply hate to see one of you clumsy oafs try to accidentally run off with my dagger.'

They exchanged looks, nods, and I quickly grew bored. I cleared my throat pointedly, and then Damon turned to me. 'We'll help you,' he said gruffly. 'You can trust us.'

I beamed at them all. 'Excellent,' I said happily, and I handed Damon the dagger. 'Do be careful with that,' I warned. 'Can't have you damaging our-'

'This won't kill Klaus.' His tone was flat, mildly annoyed and entirely sincere. He'd pulled the dagger from the bag and held it in his hand, and he was looking at it like one might look at a piece of gum that was trapped in one's shoe.

I cocked an eyebrow. 'Excuse me?'

'I said, this won't kill Klaus,' Damon repeated. He sighed, handing the dagger back to me. I snatched it away with a glare. He explained, 'A dagger dipped in white oak ash isn't enough to kill him.'

'Since when?' I snapped.

'Trust us,' Alaric interjected tiredly. 'We know. This thing will only neutralize him, at best. We'd need a white oak stake to actually kill him.'

'But this-'

'Won't cut it,' Damon said firmly. He smirked at me then, all smug and triumphant-looking, and I wanted to rip his head off where he stood. 'Thought you would've known that.'

I glared at him, the most menacing and fear-inspiring glare that I could muster, and his smile fell. My glares, I knew, could be terrifying when I wanted them to be. I'd had five thousand years to perfect it. 'Fine then,' I said with gritted teeth. 'We'll add finding the white oak stake to our list of nearly-impossible things to do. No problem. If you'll excuse me, I have a spineless, lying weasel to decapitate.' I didn't waste time with any of my usual theatrics. I merely turned on my heel and sprinted out of the Salvatore boarding house.

James Wright. That treacherous little bastard. He had _lied _to me. I made a mental note to ask him why he'd done that before I ripped out his tongue. I'd ask him if he knew where the stake was, too. Then I'd use this crappy little dagger to carve my name into the flesh over his ribs before I cracked them all, one by one, piece by piece. I would pull out his spleen. I would crush his eyeballs into jelly. I would turn him to _dust _for the false information that he had given me.

It didn't take long for me to follow his scent to the tiny little house we'd met in earlier. I barged in without invitation and had him pinned up against the wall before he even had time to react, and bared my snarling teeth at him. His eyes widened and he struggled to release himself from my grip, but I was, as always, too strong for him.

'Why did you lie to me about the dagger?' I hissed.

'I- I didn't-' he choked out.

'I asked you for the dagger that could kill Klaus, and you assured me that you had it,' I continued, my face close to his. 'You did lie to me, James. The dagger you gave me will not kill Klaus.'

'I-it was a- a mistake.' Vampires did not need air to survive, but it did hurt to not have any, which probably explained why James was now wheezing and spluttering. 'I b-believed it-'

'You'd be wise to not lie to me again, James,' I snarled. 'If I let you go, will you attempt to run away?'

He shook his head.

I nodded. 'Good. I have no patience for runners.' I released my grip on his neck, and his feet touched the ground as he panted. After a moment of recovery, he shot me a glare, his breathing still heavy. 'Even after all these years, you're still a heartless bitch, aren't you?'

His words didn't offend me, but I slapped him across the face anyway. It was a long time coming for him. His head snapped to the side and he growled at me. 'Did you know that the dagger wouldn't kill Klaus?' I asked him evenly, my voice filled with a calm that even he knew was deadly.

He was probably aware of how unwise it would be to lie to me. He looked away and nodded, and I slapped him again, harder this time. I nearly took off his head. I wish it had taken off his head. It would have been satisfying to see it roll across the ground.

'Why did you lie to me, James?' I asked.

'I...' he trailed off. He looked at me, I looked at him, and he seemed to understand what was coming next. 'No,' he said as I advanced towards him. 'No, please, I was just doing what I was told.'

'Was it Klaus?' I asked, my undead heart skipping a beat at the name. 'Did Klaus ask you to keep me in the dark about the stake?'

He whimpered in fear and nodded. My hand reached out to his face, and I gave it a tender stroke. 'I wish I could say that you've been a loyal and trustworthy ally to me in the past, James,' I said with false sadness. 'But I'd be lying, and I try to not make a habit of lying to the people I'm about to kill. It spoils the moment.'

'Please,' he whispered.

I sighed, and then his heart was in my hand, and James Wright's dead body fell to the floor. I dropped his heart right beside it and frowned, looking down at the blood splattered on my shirt- huh. I'd liked this shirt. I'd stolen it from a very nice store in New York. I wiped at it feebly, then gave up and walked out of the house, deciding that I'd head back to the hotel and inform Seymour of this latest development. I was sure he'd be very interested to hear about it. And then we'd plan and we'd devise, like we so often did, until we came up with something perfect, something that would get the job done just right and allow everyone to emerge unscathed on the other side.

I snorted aloud. Unscathed- what a ludicrous thought. No matter what happened in the world, there would always be collateral damage. Always. It was what had happened with Ray, wasn't it? And with so many others. I shook my head, banishing those thoughts from my mind. _Focus, Elena._

I had a white oak stake to find, after all. I couldn't afford to be sidetracked by pointless things such as sentiment.

I just didn't have the time.

**A/N: Hope this chapter was okay. I wanted to showcase the (even) darker side of Elena, so there you go. If you enjoyed it, let me know in a review. If you didn't enjoy it, tell me why in a review. If you're reading this, review. It's the law now. You have to.  
Ahem, my own desperation aside- I do hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Doing rewrites is fun. I get to laugh at how awful I was in the past and physically cringe in embarrassment. Fun.  
See you next chapter!  
-Heather.**


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